🔊 TTS Settings
chapter 89
Tears pooled in Lydia’s eyes and fell onto her pillow. After the funeral, she locked herself in her room, crying every day.
As time passed, the fear of not knowing how her circumstances would change grew stronger than the sorrow of losing her father. It was certain that Henderson wouldn’t leave her alone.
“Your Highness,”
Anita approached Lydia’s bed cautiously, trying to gauge her mood.
Lydia didn’t even glance at her and kept crying silently.
“The Emperor wishes to see you,”
Anita relayed the message from the Emperor while carefully watching Lydia’s reaction.
Lydia, sitting up at Anita’s words, glared sharply. With eyes like daggers, she struck Anita across the cheek.
“Ugh—”
Startled, Anita gasped at Lydia’s sudden action.
She placed a hand on her reddened cheek and looked at Lydia, her eyes trembling as if trying to understand why she had been struck.
“Are you mocking me?”
“How could I ever mock Your Highness?”
Anita shook her head nervously.
People called Lydia a wingless angel, saying that since the Emperor who protected her had died, she had lost her wings and could no longer fly freely.
Even so, to Anita, Lydia was still her mistress, someone she had to serve.
“The Emperor has passed away.”
“Oh… Crown Prince Henderson…”
Anita hesitated, trailing off as she watched Lydia’s reaction.
Though Henderson hadn’t yet had his coronation and was still technically the Crown Prince, the court had already started calling him Emperor. Only Lydia stubbornly refused, insisting he was still the Crown Prince.
“Henderson is not the Emperor yet. The only Emperor is still my father,”
Lydia stepped off the bed and glared at Anita. Wiping her tears, she raised her hand threateningly.
Anita squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself. But no harsh strike came. When she peeked open her eyes, Lydia was sitting quietly, crying in sorrow.
“Your Highness,”
Anita called softly, her heart heavy.
“Anita… you’ll stay by my side, won’t you?”
“……”
Caught off guard, Anita couldn’t answer immediately, blinking in confusion. Lydia’s face twisted in anger.
“Why can’t you answer? Now that the Emperor is gone, do you think I’m insignificant too?”
“No! That’s not it!”
“Remember this, Anita. You killed a servant of the Duke’s household and attacked the Duchess. With just one word from me, you could be labeled a murderer.”
“Your Highness—”
Anita’s face turned pale at Lydia’s words.
Lydia, with tears still in her eyes, forced a smile and brushed the dust off Anita’s shoulder.
“Even if you claim it was on my orders, it won’t matter. No matter how much Henderson hates me, for the sake of the royal family’s honor, I will cover for you.”
“…I will serve Your Highness faithfully for my whole life. So please don’t say such things,”
Anita said, forcing a composed expression, clenching her fists tightly. Lydia was right—betraying her meant certain death.
“Of course. You know how much I care about you,”
Lydia wiped her eyes and smiled faintly before heading to the dressing room.
Though she didn’t want to meet Henderson, she had no choice. The protective Emperor was gone. Lydia wiped away fresh tears with a blink.
Dressed, she went to the audience chamber. Henderson, calling himself Emperor, had summoned her, which annoyed her.
She looked at Henderson seated in her father’s place. Seeing him there made the reality of her father’s death hit her again.
Lydia bit her lip tightly.
“You called for me, Brother Henderson?”
“Brother Henderson…”
Henderson scoffed at the term. Why use a title she hadn’t used since childhood? Was it to signal that he wouldn’t accept her as Emperor, or that he wanted her to recognize their shared bloodline? Didn’t he know she loathed that fact?
“Who are you calling your brother?”
Henderson’s voice was icy.
“….”
The coldness in his expression made Lydia swallow nervously. Since childhood, Henderson had looked at her with contempt.
He had always made it clear she was not of the same status as him, born from a “tainted” womb. Even now, he didn’t hide his disdain.
“I’ve never considered you my sister. You are a disgrace to the royal family.”
“….”
Lydia could only sob silently. Thoughts of Nunuki’s poison floated in her mind.
Henderson, showing no sympathy for her tears, casually threw an envelope at her.
The envelope landed at her feet. Lydia wiped her tears and picked it up.
“Open it,”
Henderson commanded. She opened it and found a portrait of an elderly man wearing a crown.
Confused, Lydia looked at Henderson.
“That’s the King of Herio. He’s looking for a fourth queen,”
Henderson said, smirking cruelly.
The portrait crumpled in Lydia’s hand, her own expression mirroring it.
“Henderson!”
She screamed.
The King of Herio was ten years older than the late Emperor. He was notorious for womanizing and rumored to be insane.
And now Henderson intended to marry her off to him. Lydia’s face drained of color.
“If you marry the King of Herio, you can live enjoying everything you’ve had until now,”
“I refuse!”
Lydia’s eyes blazed with fury. She would rather throw herself into the Pignet River than marry that man.
“I won’t force you. But know this—if you don’t marry him, your life will change drastically,”
“Is this a threat?”
Lydia trembled. She had expected Henderson not to leave her alone, but this was worse than she imagined.
Henderson scoffed at her question.
“If you refuse the King of Herio, go to the Emrat territory. Your father defied many to grant it to you. If you live there, he would be pleased,”
“There’s nothing in Emrat! Nothing!”
The Emrat estate, though fertile and producing many crops, lacked infrastructure. Cultural life was nonexistent. There was no theater, no opera, no social life. Sending Lydia there was equivalent to imprisonment.
“I hate this, I hate that… what do you want me to do?”
“Give me some time! It hasn’t even been long since His Majesty passed, and you rush me like this!”
Tears fell as Lydia spoke.
“The palace you occupy is meant for the Empress. Because of you, Christine still remains in the Crown Prince’s palace,”
“You mean I should leave the palace? This is my home!”
“No, a daughter of a low-born concubine cannot dare call the palace her home,”
“You’re cruel, Brother,”
Lydia trembled, clenching her fists.
“Pathetic. Haven’t you considered that you’ve lived excessively thanks to Father?”
“I won’t marry the King of Herio, and I won’t go to Emrat. You can’t drive me out of the palace,”
Lydia said firmly, turning away. The palace is my home. I won’t be expelled.
“Then find a suitable husband. I don’t know if there’s a man who would take you, unable to bear children,”
Henderson’s words from behind made her stop in her tracks. Did he know? Slowly, Lydia turned toward him.
Their eyes met. Henderson continued:
“There is one mad man willing to take you even if you cannot have children: Robbie Bronk, the second son of the Bronk family.”
A sneer crossed Henderson’s face.
Meanwhile, elsewhere:
Seraret nervously paced the bedroom, biting her nails. What should I do? How should I handle this?
Yuan had known everything from the start. And he held the documents to the Morsley estate. Learning this, Seraret had been unable to focus for days.
Shocked to realize she had been at Yuan’s mercy all this time, she hadn’t left her bed for several days.
Whenever Yuan checked on her, Seraret pretended to be asleep, unwilling to see his face.
“If the Morsley estate documents are in Yuan’s hands, no amount of money will help,”
She muttered, stopping in her tracks. Even if she raised 170,000 lupings, if Yuan refused to return the documents, it would be useless.
With a deep sigh, Seraret impulsively left her room and headed to Yuan’s study.
Opening the door carefully, she scanned the room. If the estate documents were here, they would likely be in this study.
Starting with the nearest drawer, Seraret began searching. Finally, she found an envelope.
As she opened it, she heard Yuan’s voice:
“Looking for the Morsley estate documents?”
